I’m back! And I was going to start the month off right by joining National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) and posting every day for the month of November. I already missed the first day! Work was busy, and then my roots had to get done, American’s Next Top Model was on, the garbage had to go out, and then bam! It was time to read my book and go to bed. I guess that means I don’t even get to put this cool banner on my blog to signify my participation.


So I was in Atlanta last week taking some Authorware training. A whole week to live in a hotel in a strange city all my myself! I took the MARTA train all by myself from the airport. I’m so proud of myself! Actually, the training, although very good, was exhausting and usually went until 5:00. I didn’t have much time or energy for exploring other than taking the hotel shuttle to the nearby mall every night. Not that I’m complaining, shopping is ALWAYS fun. I didn’t buy much, but I fell in love with Anthropologie (where I bought a fancy tea towel for my collection and an iron door stop) and J. Jill (where I bought a sweater and shirt on sale). Why can’t we have these stores? Where is the pretty store love for Canada? I shouldn’t complain. We really do have some great stores here, but one always wants what one cannot have (or that’s difficult to have).

The other reason I didn’t buy much was because I couldn’t find anything I wanted! (besides all of the stuff I couldn’t afford at Anthropologie). The sooner the fashion industry gets over the 80’s “retro look” the better. Be gone, cheap t-shirt material clothing! Be gone flouncy short skirts and un-natural fabrics! And take those huge shiny belts and peter pan boots with you!

Switching the topic to one a little less shallow… let’s talk about books. Remember those old Penguin book covers? Having worked in several bookstores in my late teens and early twenties, I had the pleasure of seeing and admiring many of them. I used to get the promo posters from the stores once they weren’t needed. I wish I still had them! Anyway, someone put up their collection of Penguin and Pelican book covers on flickr. Go see!

And have you heard of Mark Ryden? A lot of his work is a little goth-trendy™ for me. But he does have some very compelling images and his technique is impeccable. I quite like the “Meat” set.